Viral - Lunar Chronicles Next Generation
by LittleMissHels
Summary: This is a Lunar Chronicles next generation fanfic. Princess Kyra, Princess Miko and Crown Prince Kaito II wish for something other than being treated like royalty, in which they were and they long for adventure. With Red and Michel Kesley, Harrison Clay and Elliot Thorne, the children discover a sinister plot that will threaten the lives of every Earthen and Lunar alive.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Crown Prince Kaito II of the Eastern Commonwealth was first welcomed into the world in the morning of the 31st day of December 138 T.E. at 9:47am. Kai smiled as he lifted his newborn son into his arms, smiling widely at his chubby little cheeks. His eyes were open slightly and Kai could see a hint of warm brown. His little hands were curled into fists as he cried.

Cinder was only just awake from the anaesthetics that the doctors gave her for the operation. She sat up slightly and winced at the pain in her abdomen.

"What should we name him, Kai?" she crooned, cuddling the newborn.

"I don't know." he smiled, leaning over and stroking the newborn's cheeks.

"How about 'Kai' after you?" Cinder smiled. "I have a feeling that he's going to be just as handsome as his dad."

"I was thinking 'Rikan' after my father." Kai suggested. "I'm not _that_ self-absorbed."

"Please, Kai?" Cinder pouted. "You already named our daughters. It's my turn now."

It was true that Kai named their twin daughters already, naming them Kyra and Miko. The two-year-old girls were back in the nursery with Iko and a nurse.

A doctor - Fateen - walked in with a portscreen, her long black braid swinging as she entered. "Your Imperial Majesties, have you decided the name for the crown prince?"

"Yes, Fateen." Kai said. "He will be named Kaito II, Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth."


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Eleven years later:

Miko plugged her earbuds into her ears and attached them to her portscreen. Konn Torin, the emperor's advisor, raised an eyebrow at her. Kyra, Miko's older twin, stifled a laugh. She knew that whenever her twin was bored with her Politics lessons, she would listen to some second-era pop instead.

Torin sighed and closed his portscreen. He started to massage his temples, waiting for the 13 year old princess to focus again.

"Torin?" Miko asked, her feet tapping the beat.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Torin replied. "Are you ready to resume your lesson?"

"No, Torin. I'm bored." she drawled.

"Then you are dismissed, Your Highness."

"Thank you, Torin." Miko rose up and out of her seat and glided out of the classroom in her violet dress, humming.

"But I would like to continue the lesson." Kyra smiled.

Torin's eyes held something like gratitude. Kyra was the one most willing to learn out of the royal children. In Torin's eyes, it was almost a pity that she wasn't the crown princess. She was like Emperor Kai the most, Kai Jr. was like Cinder the most and Miko was like Iko and Cinder's deceased mother Channary the most. Miko was obsessed with music, fashion and dancing, mostly because she grew up with Iko as her closest confidante.

"Of course." Torin smiled, opening his portscreen up again. In a few minutes, the two were in a lively debate about inter-galactic politics.

"But, Your Highness, when you think about inter-galactic laws, the EF is-"

"Yes, I know Torin." Kyra waved her hand dismissively with a twinkle in her eye that looked just like the late Emperor Rikan. "Remember that my mother did sign the Treaty of Bremen while the other monarchs couldn't."

Her statement left Torin unable to argue any further. The door to the meeting room opened and Nainsi, Kai's android rolled in with the emperor and the 11-year-old crown prince behind her.

"Well, looks like someone's finally better at politics than you, Torin." Kai smirked.

"We can certainly say that Her Highness takes after you the most, Your Majesty." Torin bowed. "How may I be of assistance?"

"We were just dropping in." Kai Jr. said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his red and gold jacket.

Kyra poked her tongue out at him and walked over with a coy smile playing on her lips. "And who gave you permission?"

"Dad did." Kai Jr. shrugged.

Kyra pouted upwards at her father. "Dad! You traitor! I told you not to let him in." Kai simply laughed and led Kyra out of the room. Torin looked questioning after them.

"The Kesleys are here." Kai called over his shoulder at Torin. Torin nodded understandingly, tucked his portscreen into the pocket of his immaculate black blazer and followed the emperor, the crown prince and the princess out into the main hall where they would be meeting the Kesleys.

Near the doors, Cinder was standing in a white gown at the staircase, a ruby diadem in the shape of a phoenix on her head, arguing with Iko, who was standing beside her in a black skirt and white blouse, her wavy blue hair in a ponytail.

"Cinder! If you try to take those heels off one more time, I'll make sure that next time, they'll be extra high!" Iko's golden eyes were blazing with fury.

"Excuse me, Iko, who's the empress here?"

"Excuse me, Cinder. Who's got the better taste of fashion here?"

Cinder wobbled over to Kai, who was shaking his head. "Kai! Help me! Iko's gone crazy."

"Wait." Kai Jr. said, confused. "Which 'Kai' do you want?"

"Mom meant dad, you idiot!" Kyra shoved him.

Cinder laughed and hugged Kai Jr. I suppose that either one is fine."

Kai feigned shock and hurt. "But, I thought I was your special 'Kai', Cinder! You betrayed me!"

"Oh yes." Cinder smirked.

The glass doors slid open. Wolf, Scarlet, their 10-year-old daughter Red and their 15-year-old son Michel walked in, wearing jeans and t-shirts flanked by palace androids carrying their luggage.

Red grinned at Kyra, who smiled and waved back. Kai Jr. commed Miko on his portscreen excitedly before going forwards to greet Michel.

The emperor and empress embraced Wolf and Scarlet.

"Long time no see." Wolf grinned, flashing his canines.

"I hope you don't mind." Scarlet removed her hat. "We need some city air sometimes."

Kai and Cinder glanced at the children, who seemed to have a great time catching up with each other. "I don't think the children mind at all."

"Well, that's good." Scarlet said, wiping her brow. "Because I'm telling you, raising a teenager and a tween is hard. Especially if they're always hungry like their dad."

"Tell me about it." Cinder nodded seriously. "Raising three teenagers is harder with all the emotional traumas, the secret crushes, the hormones and everything else."

"And since when does Linh Cinder, the mechanic wear anything like, like this?" Wolf gestured at Cinder's white gown.

"Iko forced me to." Cinder rolled her eyes. "I'm lucky that Winter and Cress aren't here yet."

Iko smiled widely. Scarlet stifled a laugh.

"Well, come this way." Kai gestured towards the dining room. "You're just in time for lunch."

Wolf perked up. "Really? Great, I'm hungry."

"As always." Scarlet chuckled.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Cinder chuckled as she watched Wolf and Michel tuck into the buffet that the royal cooks provided. Scarlet and Red were hungry too, but not that hungry. Kai Jr. was talking to Michel between large bites of shrimp dumplings and Red was busy telling Kyra all that had happened since their last visit from Rieux. Miko, who had just arrived, was attempting to eat, talk, fix her hair and listen to music at the same time. So far, she was doing quite well with that. Iko gave her a look of approval.

"This is more like what I originally wanted you to be, Cinder." Iko shook her head sadly. "But, unfortunately, you're beyond rehabilitation."

Kai was sitting at the head of the table, calmly typing a reply to a comm sent by Thorne half a minute ago. Kyra leaned over to see what her father was doing on his portscreen.

"Dad, you didn't tell me that Uncle Thorne, Aunt Cress and Elliot were coming in half an hour." Kyra accused.

"I didn't know either until only just a minute ago, Kyra." Kai said, sending the reply comm.

Cinder, Scarlet and Iko perked up. "What?!" they all shouted at the same time.

Iko commed one of the maids, telling her to prepare two more guest suites, one for Thorne and Cress, and the other for Elliot. Her golden eyes were glowing with excitement. She loved trying on dresses with Cress.

Kyra and Miko couldn't help but swoon. Like his father, Elliot Thorne had Thorne's ash blond hair and dreamy blue eyes. Sometimes, the twins would fight over who he liked the most. Kyra wouldn't admit it, but she was sure that Elliot liked Miko more. Kyra have tried to become less diplomatic and more bubbly and girly, but someone has to care for the country's wellbeing when Kai Jr. and Miko didn't. Kyra really wondered why she wasn't going to be made crown princess. But she shunned away the thought.

Finishing off her dumplings, she stood up and started walking out of the room.

"Kyra, where are you going?" Kai asked. "Don't you want to stay longer here with Red and Michel?"

Kyra shook her head apologetically. "I'm going to practice my glamours, Dad. I've been getting some visions lately."

Kai nodded in understanding and let her go. She glided past in the practiced walk that she learned with Tashmi Priya-jie, making sure that the sound of her black flats against the floor couldn't be heard and that her long violet day dress didn't move as she walked. Halfway to the elevator in the Emperor's Wing, she heard the sound of wet sneakers and black flats against the marble behind her. Miko and Red were standing before her.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kyra asked, surprised.

"I'm going to practice my glamour with you. And I promised Red that I would glamour her too." Miko explained.

Kyra sighed. "Fine, come along."

The girls went straight up to Miko's vast chambers to practice their glamour. Red removed her wet sneakers before stepping onto the white carpets. Miko walked confidently towards her large walk-in changing room and up to her large mirror. She found suitable dresses for all three of them with suitable jewellery and shoes.

They changed into day dresses, but white this time. The twins worked on their glamours. Kyra made her hair look curlier and made her lips slightly more pink. She kept her slightly tanned skin and jet-black hair. Miko went slightly overboard and glamoured herself in a floral white gown and matching tiara with white heels that Kyra knew the real Miko wouldn't be able to actually balance in. The ensemble was complete with pink lipstick and white nail polish on her fingers and toes.

Miko, since her glamour was slightly stronger than Kyra's, glamoured Red into a red dress with a sweetheart neckline and red flats, which Red hated.

"Don't make me change it into something outdoorsy otherwise I'll glamour you into a warty old lady, Red!" Miko warned.

"You sound like Iko more and more every day." Kyra observed.

"I know right?" Miko smiled excitedly. "Time to show Mom our new looks."

As the girls glided into the dining room - Miko managed to make Red look graceful and composed, not stomping and thrashing - Thorne, Cress and Elliot were already sitting there, sipping Oo Long. Kai Jr. laughed out loud with Michel, who was laughing at Red.

"Shut up, my dear crown prince or I'll be forced to make you sew your lips together." Miko glared.

"I have bio-electricity too, you know." Kai Jr. glared back. To demonstrate, he made himself look like Michel, Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Elliot, Cress and Thorne. Then he morphed back into himself.

"What did I say about now bio-electricity practices during dinner, Kai?" Cinder glowered at her son. "You have plenty of time for that when you're in your lessons with me."

"Sorry Mom."


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Two weeks later, Kyra and Miko walked up to their private theatre. It was the night of the Annual Peace Ball, where the entire country would come and dance and celebrate another successful year under Kai and Cinder's reign.

"We should watch Harry Potter." Kyra suggested.

"No! Teen Wolf is good." MIko argued. "We can watch Harry Potter tomorrow."

"But that's hardly fair!"

The girls argued until their time to watch a movie ran out and it was time for the Annual Peace Ball. Kyra and Miko went to their rooms and waited for their maids to come and treat them. Miko asked for a full out spa treatment.

Iko walked into MIko's chambers after her treatment. Miko looked really beautiful, even it was only in a bathrobe. Iko walked confidently for an android to the vast changing rooms and started selecting Miko's clothes. Out of curiosity, Miko came in. Iko was wearing a black dress with little sequins and sparkles on it that looked like stars. Her blue hair was pinned into an elegant coil with some black flowers. Her golden eyes were smoky and her face was perfect. After all, Iko had the body of an escort-droid.

The dress that she selected for Miko, in both of their opinions, was beyond perfect. It was a sleeveless pink gown that faded to violet to Miko's neck and faded to white on the white palace tiles, so it looked a bit like that Miko was a graceful, flawless and pink ice sculpture. There were peony patterns embroidered in gold on the dress. Iko laid out the jewellery, the hair decorations, the shoes and the tiara for the maids to help Miko with. Iko's next goal was to check on Kyra.

Kyra was wearing her violet day dress and the extravagant blue gown that Iko had picked for her was still untouched in a garment bag. Iko looked around frantically for Kyra's maids. Unlike Miko, Kyra sends her maids out to get a rest once in a while.

"Where are your maids?" Iko asked Kyra, who was lounging on one of her couches in front of her flatscreen, eating a small bowl of popcorn, tears streaking down her face.

"The Deathly Hallows is so sad, I just wanted to cry alone. FRED!" Kyra wailed. Iko covered her ears; high-pitched wailing does not go well with android sound detectors.

Iko walked to Kyra's portscreen and closed the flatscreen.

"Hey!" Kyra shouted.

"Kyra, the welcome ball is in another four hours and you're still here, lounging on the couches and watching whatever movie that was!" Iko exclaimed. "Miko's ready in her room, just putting her shoes and makeup on and you're in your Sunday day dress! I'll come back in two hours to check on you!" Iko left the room.

Kyra groaned and shuffled off to her gown. She grabbed her portscreen and commed her maids, saying that she will need assistance with the ball gown. A minute later, all twenty of her maids rushed in through the doors, mumbling rushed apologies to the Empress's advisor and the eldest Princess. Kyra just closed her eyes and imagined that she was in the library, reading a book about... fantasy and adventures. She was in her happy place and the dress was already put on and the ball was already over...

The maids led Kyra to her bathroom. On her vast make-up table, there was a large white mirror. Kyra's maids bought in cosmetics, decorations and hair pins for Kyra's hair and other lotions for Kyra's skin. They got Kyra out of her day dress and into a comfy white bathrobe. Kyra tried not to grimace when the maids were doing her skin and hair. She closed her eyes and tried not to puke at the smell of the cosmetics.

After an hour or so of polishing Kyra's skin, the maids moved onto her face. Kyra only opened her eyes when they were doing her eyelashes. Ten minutes later, her maids were done. Kyra stepped out of the bathroom and put on the gown with the help of her maids. After she was done, all the maids were smiling proudly at their masterpiece - Kyra 2.0.

"Look in the mirror, Your Highness." the head maid said, looking down at Kyra's feet in respect. Kyra walked in her practiced walk towards the mirror and saw that she was a completely different person to the normal Kyra. The gown was a nice shade of dark blue that was sure to make her stand out from all the other guests, who were going to wear whites, golds and greens, maybe even reds. Her gown had some touches of traditional clothing, but not that much. In her opinion, Kyra would say that it was quite scandalous. At least it wasn't red.

Most of her hair was allowed to fall down her back in curly waves. All of the curls were highlighted brown and scented like vanilla and roses. Some of her hair were piled up onto her head, pinned into place with her peacock tiara and a couple of silver pins that went with it. At the Peace Ball, it was compulsory for the Royal family to wear their crowns and their tiaras.

"Beautiful." the maids swooned. "I think Mr Elliot would like this look."

"What?!" Kyra exclaimed.

"You do want to be noticed by him, don't you, Your Highness?" a maid asked timidly.

"Yes." Kyra admitted. The maids giggled.

"He'll notice her, alright." a slightly older maid stage-whispered, causing all of them to laugh. Kyra looked at her painted nails and smiled. They were painted dark blue and had little Chinese traditional patterns on them. She was glad that she had such talented maids that were so good at nail art.

After some final touches of make-up, Iko entered the room. She gaped at Kyra's new look and ran over to hug her.

"Oh, Kyra. You look so beautiful in that." Iko sniffed, though no tears were coming. "It was only yesterday when you were still this chubby little blob with no teeth."

Kyra pressed her hand to Iko's mouth. "Okay, that's enough, Iko. I'll save that for a rainy day."

Iko laughed with the maids.

Kyra walked out of the door, actually feeling beautiful. "Come on, Iko, we have a ball to attend!"


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Kyra, feeling light and excited for her first Peace Ball, waited impatiently for the elevator to reach the ground floor. She was led by an android and two of her bodyguards to the Ballroom. Some guests have already started arriving and her parents were greeting them by the doors. She pulled up a quick glamour that she and Miko had dreamed up, which is only a prettier version of themselves.

"Sorry I'm late, Dad." Kyra smiled, fixing her hair into place.

"Don't worry." her father said with a smile. "It's fine and I know that Cinder wouldn't even care if you were wearing your pyjamas here."

"True that." Cinder said.

The three of them greeted the guests graciously, waiting for Miko to come. After an excruciating fifteen minutes, Miko finally showed up, her glamour intact. Kyra was sure that her hand had been kissed a thousand times in the time that it took Miko to arrive. The Royal family waited and waited, always a practiced smile on their faces for the guests that had just come in.

The twins' heart fluttered when they saw Elliot Thorne sauntering towards them in elegant strides. His dreamy blue eyes were slightly unfocused, but they could tell that he was looking at them. Elliot stood half of a head taller than the girls, even when they wore ten-inch high heels. He kissed their hands as he went in.

"Oh my lucky stars, did you see that?!" Miko screeched. "He just called me 'Your Highness' and kissed my hand!"

"I know right?" Kyra grinned like an idiot. "He's so dreamy."

Normally Kyra would have been disgusted, but tonight, Elliot Thorne looked polished and handsome, his blond hair looking slightly boyish and his blue eyes dreamy. The rest of the welcomes were spent thinking about Elliot Thorne. When the Royal family was free to go, the girls went looking for Elliot. Miko got there first and started twirling her hair around and around her finger, which must have been driving Elliot insane. Kyra walked off and decided to dance for a while. Luckily Michel came to the rescue.

He had brown hair like his father and the same shocking green eyes, but he wasn't as lupine as him, though Michel did have rather sharp canines. After a dance, Kyra was asked by Elliot, who seemed to be done with Miko for now.

"You look ravishing today, Miss Kyra." he grinned.

"Shut up, Elliot." she blushed.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, holding his arm out.

"It will be my pleasure." Elliot and Kyra spun into the center of the room where Miko was with Michel, dancing gracefully. Michel didn't have much experience with dancing, but was graceful nevertheless. Soon Kai and Cinder, who was a much better dancer now, spun into the center. The people moved, allowing them room to dance. Kai Jr. soon came over with Red, who was blushing as red as her hair.

The whole ballroom was clapping after the Royal family finished their first dance and Miko went to dance with Elliot in the center. Kyra gave Elliot and Miko a thumbs-up and retreated into the crowd. She bumped against someone and she turned around, the 'sorry' frozen in her mouth. It was someone that she hadn't seen for years.

"Harry!" she cried, hugging him. Harrison Clay, the son of Jacin Clay and Winter Hayle-Blackburn, used to be one of Kyra's best friends. She first met with him on her first trip to Luna, when she was six and he was eight.

"Hey, Kyra." he smiled. Harrison was more mature and much more handsome. He inherited his mother's dark hair, but his father's pale complexion and blue eyes. "May I have this dance?"

"Sure." Kyra blushed and was led into the center of the room once again. Miko raised an eyebrow. _It's Harry,_ Kyra mouthed.

"I can't believe you're here!" Kyra said as she twirled. "I thought you were on Luna. What in the stars are you doing here?"

"Well, I guess that we're here to meet the most beautiful Princess." he smiled.

"Oh, that's Miko, then. She's over there with Elliot Thorne." Kyra pointed as she leaned backwards into Harry.

Harry rolled his ice blue eyes. "No, not her. She's not the most beautiful Princess here."

"Who is then?" Kyra demanded.

Harry said his answer unashamedly and it caught Kyra off guard. "You, Princess Kyra of the Eastern Commonwealth, are the most beautiful Princess in all the world."


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Kyra's jaw hung open, something which is not 'princess-like' at all. And Harry had a lopsided smile on his face that made her jaw drop even more. After she unfroze, Kyra was quick to slap him on his arm, causing him to withdraw it from her waist. Thankfully, the sound didn't carry through the ballroom and no one else had seen it, otherwise it would be all over the news. She cringed as she imagined the headlines: **Eldest Princess of the Eastern Commonwealth harassing dance partner at Peace Ball,** plus all the over exaggerated things the media adds.

"Ow! What in the stars did you do that for?!" Harry cradled his arm with Kyra standing with angry copper eyes opposite him.

"Don't say anything like that ever again or I swear I will end you, Harrison Clay." Kyra threatened, crossing her arms. "You can give a girl a heart attack like that, you know."

Harry muttered a quick sorry and slid his arm around Kyra's waist again. They twirled on the dance floor, not really saying anything to each other. Kyra kept her gaze fixed at Harry's shoulder and Harry stared at the ground.

"Harry, seriously, why are you here?" Kyra finally asked. Last time she had visited, Cinder, Iko and Jacin had had an argument. A big one. Naturally Scarlet joined Cinder's side, and Wolf didn't have a choice but to follow her. Thorne and Cress, however, stayed neutral along with Winter, who really didn't want to get involved. Kyra, Miko, Harry and Kai II had watched the entire thing.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, Luna still has an alliance with Earth, at least treaty-wise. But I guess Mom wanted to come meet her old friends again."

"You think they'll be okay? Mom and your Dad like holding grudges."

"They'll be fine." Harry attempted a smile. Kyra giggled.

But suddenly, all the lights had turned off, encasing the ballroom in darkness. Confused shouts and whispering rose from all the dancers. Kyra reached for Harry in the darkness, calling his name and they both hugged each other tight once they did. Adrenaline pulsed hard through Kyra's veins. In the darkness, she could hear her mother shouting. "Kyra! Miko! Kai?!"

Kyra shouted back for her mother. "Mom! I'm fine; I'm with Harry!"

Harry muttered quickly to himself, trying to think of something when he suddenly nudged Kyra. Catching on, she held hands and focused every fiber of her being to make the glamour. She and Harry burst into light and soon had every person and android in the ballroom looking at them. Kyra held her hands out in a gesture for them to calm down. "Your Imperial Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ambassadors, distinguished guests and people of the Eastern Commonwealth, please do not panic." she said soothingly. "I am Princess Kyra, eldest child of Their Imperial Majesties, Emperor Kaito and Empress Selene Blackburn. I can assure you that all of you are safe within this palace. This is only a power shortage, which I am sure my father and palace technicians are rushing to fix. Please do not-"

Kyra felt hers and Harry's bio-electricity slowly drain out of their bodies. The light burned weaker, leaving them panting heavily, their muscles feeling strained and their heads hurting. What was going on? Kyra could hear muffled sounds of her parents, siblings and Iko call out for her, pushing past dancers and guests. Kyra wanted to call back, but she was too focused on the pain.

"Interesting little speech, Your Highness." a deep voice echoed around the ballroom. The guests looked around, some scared and some whispering to each other confusedly. "Who are you?" Kyra demanded with as much authority as she could muster under the strain.

There was a laugh. "Interesting question. What is in a name? Who am I? Well, let me ask you a question, then, Kyra. Who are _you_?"

It left Kyra silent and wheezing as the pain intensified and the light she produced flickered. Her Dad finally pushed out of the crowd and engulfed her in a gentle embrace. Her mother came next and stared defiantly around the room, as if daring that mysterious person to come out. Her gaze could make anyone cower and shrivel beneath it.

"What do you want?" her father asked above all the noise.

"Oh look, it's Prince Kai! Or are you the Emperor now? Where's Rikan?"

"Dead." Kai snarled. Cinder could see her husband slowly breaking apart at the mention of his late father. So she decided shout out too. "What the hell do you want with me and my family?"

"Cinder. Long time no see." the voice mused. "You've gotten a ton prettier than when I last saw you. Palace life really suits you, don't you think? It gave you a new title, an Emperor and three children. I remember wanting to-"

"The point." she glared at all around the ballroom, searching with her stony gaze.

"Yes, yes, fine." the voice laughed. It was deep and resonated even more around the room. "I came to give you a warning. Earth won't stand any longer. So won't Luna. The peace will never last. All you will be gone. One at a time."

And the lights came back on. But Kyra's glamour extinguished as her vision turned black. She collapsed into darkness, even darker than before.


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Kyra woke up in the hospital wing of the palace, feeling a heavy wave of vertigo as she tried to sit up. The nurse sitting by her bed quickly soothed her and gently eased her back down. The nurse offered her a cup of tea and she sighed in relief at the taste of green tea. She muttered a quick 'thanks' and reached for her portscreen.

As she opened the messages board, she shook her head slightly seeing that it was clogged up with messages. She sifted through all of them, a small smile playing on her lips. There were messages on her social media hits, over 800,000 people had sent her a message and she smiled, loving how much her people cared for her. She quickly sent a message saying that she just woke and is fine and messaged her parents. In a few minutes she was engulfed in hugs and kisses from her parents and siblings.

"Okay, okay, calm down Mom." Kyra tried to shield herself from another hug attack from Cinder. Cinder crossed her arms, looking overly relieved and if she could, she would be crying. "I know I was never one for emotions, but you were my first child."

"Okay, I get the message."

"Great, I'm overheating now." Cinder groaned.

They all shared in a laugh as Cinder tried her best to cool down. Kai smoothed down Kyra's hair down. "How are you feeling now, Kyra?" he asked worriedly. "Just a bit tired, Dad." Kyra replied. And after a few words with her siblings, Kyra was left alone in the hospital wing at her own request. She had a lot of things to think over.

She first tried a glamour, turning her nails longer. It worked as effortlessly as usual. Next, she tried turning her hand into one of metal, and it was alright, with just a little twinge in her head. After trying the feat she accomplished last night by lighting herself up with her glamour, she had felt that her glamour was back to normal and that her head did not hurt so much anymore.

She stood up, commed the nurse and walked out in her white hospital robes. She was meet with greetings from androids, doctors and researchers as she strolled down the hallway, bare feet pattering on the marble. As she walked, she suddenly bumped into someone, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. She looked up, seeing Harry his face ashen.

"Hey Harry." Kyra stood up, brushing herself off. "What are you doing here?"

Harry shrugged, his face normal now with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "Just wanted to come see you, I guess. Miko's awfully boring and Kai just tinkers with his stuff."

Kyra laughed and skipped off. "I just need to get changed into something I can actually go outside with. I'll be done in a sec."

She waited for the elevator to reach the 9th floor and stepped out. She ran into her chambers, feeling refreshed and pulled out a simple black tank top and jean shorts. She added a white jacket with a hood and black sneakers; the most casual clothes that she owned. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and walked out. Harry was waiting at her door and quickly, Kyra glamoured them into palace androids. They snickered as they ran out into the bustling streets of New Beijing.

After running a while off from the palace, Kyra released the glamour and quickly looked around. They were in the market square, bustling with people and androids as usual. She could she the burnt remains of the bakery from the letumosis outbreak around 15 years ago, when her mother still worked as a lowly mechanic and her father was just a prince. The mechanics shop still stood, but no one went to buy things from it anymore. It was closed, but actually she and Miko knew that it was actually Kai Jr's secret hideout and little workshop. Sometimes the royal children came, their glamours intact, and hid out there when Torin or their parents were angry with them.

"Hey, Harry." Kyra said, suddenly realizing something. "You wanna prank someone?"

"Depends on who."

"What do you think about... Adri?" Kyra smirked and gave Harry a high five when he agreed. They took out their portscreens and after setting up the directions to Phoenix Tower Apartments, they ran off.

"What are we going to do to her, though?" Harry asked, nudging Kyra.

"She hates lowering her social status and is super ashamed of my Mom, even though she is Empress. Why not do something like... I don't know, hack into her messages board and social media and say she's getting transgender surgery?"

"Yes, let's do that, but I think that we should glamour as palace guards and arrest her after? For treason or something?!"

Kyra snickered and nodded in agreement. "I am so ready for this."


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The Phoenix Tower apartments didn't look like what it sounded like at all. It was a dingy place with small apartments and the outside walls needed a good clean. Vines twisted their way up the walls and latched themselves onto overhanging windowsills. Kyra and Harrison, both from important backgrounds, turned up their noses at the sickly scent of sewage and disinfectant that was past its best before date.

"And to believe Mom lived here. What a dump." Kyra scoffed.

They stood in front of the door of Adri's apartment and put on their glamours. Kyra and Harry turned into tall adults, wearing smart uniforms of palace officials. They plastered a professional smile onto their faces, put their portscreens on recording mode and knocked the door. Adri emerged from the door, looking sallow-faced and very annoyed.

"Yes?" she asked with the patience of a saint (note the sarcasm).

Harry spoke first with his new voice, slightly deeper than his normal one. "Linh Adri-jie? I am Frank Clyde and this is my assistant, Kylie Liang. We are here for an exclusive interview for the New Beijing Times about Empress Selene Blackburn. Because you were her childhood guardian, we would like some view on how she was as a child."

Adri's face immediately morphed into a smile. Kyra resisted the urge to snort; typical two faced freak. "Of course, of course, come on in."

Harry and Kyra stepped into the small apartment, looking around. Kyra pretended to take notes with her glamour but in reality, she was checking whether her portscreens was recording or not. Adri welcomed them into the living room to sit on one of the silk covered sofas. Kyra looked around. Adri's apartment had a sort of false feeling about it. Everything was arranged so perfectly, even the pens on the kitchen table. "A very nice apartment you have here, Adri-jie." Kyra smiled, flashing pearly whites.

Adri beamed, thanked them and grabbed them all a cup of tea. "Any questions you might have?"

Harry took a sip of his tea and smiled. "Just some answers to the questions that we have towards your feelings on Empress Selene. It's her 15th year ruling the Commonwealth. Answer as truthfully as you can."

Kyra caught on and stretched her bio-electricity out towards Adri, making her angry. She concentrated on Adri's anger, sickened how one woman was so angry with her mother, even though Cinder never did anything. She watched, smirking as a steady stream of anger came out of her mouth, expressing her dislike, no, _hate_ , towards Cinder. And Kyra was recording it all.

"Feeling better, Adri-jie?" Harry asked after she was done.

"Yes, very."

Feeling very pleased about their result, they stood up to leave, but before they did, Harry glamoured Adri into giving them her portscreen. In its place, Kyra put her portscreen case face down and exited the building.

After a few clicks on Adri's portscreen, they had successfully uploaded the now edited voice recording onto the media. In a few hours, someone will report it and the vile lady would get what she deserves for what she had done to her mother in the past: behind bars.

Kyra released the glamour as they left and pulled her hood over her head and her eyes. She snickered quietly with Harry as they walked back into the market square.

"I'm hungry." Kyra groaned.

"Same."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Maybe...?"

And in five minutes, Harry and Kyra were sitting at a cafe, sipping iced chocolate and eating a slice of chocolate mud cake. Kyra swallowed and spoke. "I think we need a toast for this."

Harry's mouth was full, so he just nodded in agreement. He waited until he was done and called for the waiter. "Excuse me, may we have two pieces of French toast with jam?"

The waiter immediately brought up toast and jam from behind the counter. "A toast." Harry said, raising his piece.

"A toast." Kyra echoed and smiled as their pieces of bread touched. In unison, they brought it up to their lips and took a bite. "Mm, needs more jam."

A comm suddenly appeared on her portscreen. It was from Torin. _Kyra, where are you? Your parents need you back. Scarlet Kesley is missing._


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Kyra was trying her best to stay out of the way of a raging Michel, Red and Wolf, who had gone absolutely crazy, tearing up all the furniture in the meeting room. Cinder and Thorne were trying their best to calm him down. Jacin was facepalming while trying to Winter and Harry out of the way of Wolf's rampage. Both Kais were cringing, trying to dodge the broken pieces of bamboo, iron and plastic chunks that flew everywhere.

"And we definitely don't like that antique wooden table that is well over 200 years old." Kai cringed as Wolf launched himself onto the large wooden table in the meeting room. He shielded his eyes as Michel, now looking fully lupine, tore into Kai's armchair at the head of the table. "And I definitely _detest_ my favorite armchair."

Red, who had stopped by now, had started crying and howling by Winter's feet. Winter was trying her best to soothe her, but in the end, managed to start howling along with Red. Harry and Elliot stood awkwardly in the corner, trying to distract themselves by pointing out how well Michel was ripping up the armchair. Cress was fiddling with a portscreen, trying to comm Iko to try and help.

Cinder finally managed to grab onto Wolf's shoulders and stop him. Thorne seized the opportunity and steadied Wolf, who had rage, sadness and pain in his big green eyes. "Wolf. Listen to me." he said, speaking smoothly and slowly, waiting for Wolf's attention. "Scarlet is gone, we know, and we are trying our best to find her whereabouts, but you are not helping by acting like this. If she was here, she wouldn't want you to worry and almost starve yourself to death like you did last time she was gone. So start being helpful and man up."

Cinder whistled, impressed. "Wow, never knew that Thorne had this in him."

"I'll decide to take that as a compliment." he bowed.

Kai, looking quite amused, cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. He waited until Wolf had calmed Michel down and everyone was looking at him. Then he spoke. "We need to locate Scarlet Kesley's location right now. She is of vital importance, for many reasons, as you all might know. Her location is our number one priority."

Cress nodded and quickly opened up her portscreen, fingers dancing across the screen. "I have already sent a comm to the security teams in the Eastern Commonwealth. I have asked them to double-check and triple-check anything that is leaving the Commonwealth. Nothing is going to leave the country without it being checked."

"Good." Kai nodded, mouth pressed into a thin line. "Now, Wolf. Where is the last time that you have seen your wife?"

"She said she needed to go to the bathroom and I was waiting for her outside. The toilet flushed, but she didn't come out. I went in and she just wasn't there."

Kai nodded. "I will need to think about this. Torin? If you would come with me to my office. And Cinder and Cress as well?" The four adults withdrew from the meeting room, faces concerned. Kai and Torin looked as though they were already thinking of a strategy, Cress and Cinder were talking in hushed tones to each other as they left. After the door slid shut, Thorne clapped their hands together and tried to look as cheerful as he could in the situation.

"Alrighty, people, you want to play a game?"

A chorus of no's, never's and 'don't even think about it's passed around the room and they all dispersed, leaving Thorne alone in the meeting room. He chuckled softly to themselves and looked around, unsure of what to do. Elliot was probably with Harrison and Kai Jr. and the twins. Leave it to his son to abandon him. He quickly took out his portscreen and sent a comm to Cinder.

 _CCCIIIINNNNDDDDEEEERRRRRR. I'M BORED. HELP MEEEEE._

Cinder immediately replied. _Oh my lucky stars, Thorne. WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?!_

Thorne sighed, closed his eyes for a while and ran a hand through his hair. A sudden blast of cold air flowed all around. Was that the air conditioning? When he opened them, he felt strange. There was something that wasn't right in the air. It was almost... unfamiliar. He should be familiar with this environment; he had spent the last three weeks in the palace in the Eastern Commonwealth and he had spent a lot of time in this meeting room before. He looked around. This time, the antique table and the armchairs were fixed and were all in one piece. There were no bamboo sound dividers that lined the walls and the the room was much brighter as well.

"What the hell?" Thorne mouthed to himself.

"Hello." a voice said from above him. Thorne looked up, but there was no one there. There was a throaty laugh, the same one that he had heard at the Peace Ball. "Look again."

And this time, standing in front of him, was a man. He was around his height, just an inch taller, with pale blonde hair and pale blue ice and was wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans, the same thing that someone he had seen was wearing today. Thorne knew that he knew the person closely, but just couldn't place his name. When he remembered, he was staring at the other man in shock. The pale blonde hair, cold blue eyes that only softened when his son and wife were around, that hard jaw that for some reason never seemed to relax and his pale lips that were always pressed into a hard line. He could picture him in Lunar palace guard uniforms and the military tank top and green cargo pants. He had known him so well... but not anyone did really. Perhaps only Winter knew him well, she had grown up with him after all. But never would Thorne had expected it to be him.

Jacin Clay stood in front of him, wearing his usual smug smile and his blue eyes sparkling with amusement and a certain malignity in them. But... how is that possible? He had left the office around two minutes ago. How in the world did he manage to capture him and fix everything in the office when he had clearly left two minutes ago?

"Jacin?" he asked, tentatively.

Jacin smiled, and that definitely didn't look like Jacin now. When Jacin smiled, it was a soft and fragile thing. This smile was hard, coy even. "Ask again." he taunted. There was a flash of dark-colored metal followed quickly by a loud bang. Then Thorne's world lapsed into a deep black that he was sure he would never awake from.


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Thorne woke with a sharp pain searing through his side. His eyes were blurry and his vision was dotted with white spots and stars. It reminded him of the time when he was going blind.

 _Not again. Please. Not again..._ he thought pleadingly. He blinked a few more times and every was clear. An audible sigh echoed around the room. Thorne didn't even realize it was his. Where was he anyway? The room was quite different, filled with boxes and crates. He examined the walls. _Space-ship walls, no doubt. The ones from the cargo room_.

His arms and legs were bound and he was gagged as well. The cloth tasted of dust and well... cloth. Thorne tried to stand up and after various times of banging his head on the walls beside him and slipping back onto the floor again, he finally succeeded and gazed around him in triumph. Shuffling awkwardly around the space, he soon found himself wedged between two stacks of crates and unable to move around much. But after thrashing around for a moment, he heard the crates tumble to the floor and something crunching and snapping inside them. The crates haven't opened though. _Damn, they're strong._ Thorne thought to himself and admiring the crates.

A gust of cold wind blew around the room. Thorne shivered in his thin t-shirt and tried to, unsuccessfully, shift so that some strands of stray hair would be away from his eyes. The sharp pain was still there though. He hadn't forgotten it. Wincing, he bent over to examine his side, only to find that there was no blood. If only he could get to it... _Damn those ropes!_

Shoving more crates out of his way with his hip, he came to a corner of the room where there was a door. He paused in front of it, pressing his arm to the hinges of the door. The air coming out of the gaps were cold. Very cold, in fact. It reminded him of when he was young and was still living in the North of the USA when it snowed. Now, with only a thin t-shirt and jeans, suited for humid summer climates in the Commonwealth, he was freezing. But regardless, he wanted to go inside.

He tried to push open the door with his back. Obviously it didn't work. There was a keypad at the right of the door with shapes and numbers. Thorne frowned and started pushing them repeatedly and as best as he can with his nose, since his elbows couldn't reach. After what seemed like ages of pressing the buttons and trying to muffle the alarms coming from the keypad, the door finally slid open, encasing Thorne in a cocoon of cold air.

He waddled inside as best as he can with his bound legs and gazed around the room. Fifteen glass cases, frosted over with condensation, lined the room. He rubbed one of the glass cases with his elbow, grimacing at the cold water that ran down his arm. He peered inside. There was a white cushion lining at the bottom of one and it looked _very_ comfortable. But Thorne was not inclined to climb in. He walked around and found that all fifteen were the same. Except for one of them. One was already full with a humanoid shape that was mainly in the colour of red, green and brown.

Moving closer and his stomach filled with dread, Thorne waddled closer and crouched down as best as he could without toppling over. He rubbed his elbow on the glass and froze. He saw two abnormally pale hands, lying on top of each other and on a... green shirt? And was that a red hoodie...?

He rubbed his elbow on the glass again, clearing the condensation away. Slowly he could the rest of the red hoodie, the green long-sleeve shirt, the swan-like and pale neck, the red curls...

Thorne almost choked on the cloth in his mouth when he saw the humanoid figure's face. Lying in the glass case, her usually tanned skin abnormally pale, was Scarlet Benoit. Her brown eyes were thankfully closed and her mouth was unnaturally red, even redder than her curls, reminding her of someone that he had detested with every fiber of his being. She looked dead, but Thorne could tell that she was alive, just barely, by the faint and almost undetectable rising and falling of her chest. Her skin had a faint bluish tinge at her fingertips, similar to the symptoms of letumosis, but much fainter and suggesting near-hypothermia.

Thorne wanted to vomit. Scarlet is being put through DFLP and it looked like it was a third of the way through. A small monitor at the bottom of the case timed a time of just another 4 hours left until the process is finished. Wasn't DFLP illegal? From the depths of his memories, he could remember something. From where he got this memory from, he had no idea. DFLP, also known as Deep-Freeze Life Preservation, was when someone could be preserved in ice and everything in the body would freeze in the middle of what it was doing. Therefore, the body would not age at all, regardless of the time it was frozen for. It worked, but regardless of it being a good thing, scientists have found that the victims were still conscious during the process and DFLP could potentially kill them if their bodies are not strong enough. Even worse, the process is known to be excruciating, therefore filing it under a way of torture. The process took around six hours, which meant that Scarlet was strong enough to survive through two hours of immense pain and cold already.

If Thorne and Scarlet weren't in this kind of situation, he would have been impressed. Very impressed indeed that Scarlet was strong enough to survive a third of DFLP. But Scarlet was dying right in front of his own eyes. The person that he would least expect being like this is lying in a DFLP chamber and dying. _Dying_. He knew he need to save her. He couldn't live with Wolf alone. _But only if you come back alive_. A voice in his head said grimly. Thorne rolled his eyes. _Yeah, whatever._

But right now, he needed something to cut himself out with and to remove this blasted gag out of his mouth. Just while he was about to move, the door slid open. Jacin, in all of his white t-shirt glory, stood at the door, smirking with a gun in his hand.

"Ah, Thorne. You're just in time." he smiled. "Wolf. Restrain him."

A burly man with striking resemblance to Wolf, ran out from behind Jacin (in fact, so alike that Thorne was sure that he was Wolf) and pushed Thorne down onto the ground and pinned his elbow on Thorne's chest. If Thorne wasn't gagged and in a very vulnerable position, he would have made a witty remark, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Jacin, or the Jacin look-alike, smiled with steel and a promise of pain in his eyes, snapped his fingers. "Cinder, if you could do the honors?" he called. A tall girl with striking resemblance to Cinder walked out, the only difference being her hands. Both were metal and the nails extremely sharp.

"With pleasure, Jacin." Cinder look-alike purred in a not-Cinder-like-at-all voice said. She raised her left metal hand towards Thorne's neck and before Thorne knew it, he was paralysed on the ground, his limbs all limp and floppy. He couldn't open his mouth, couldn't resist when they lifted him up roughly and dumped him in the DFLP chamber next to Scarlet's. The last thing he saw before the lid closed was their malicious smiles.

And then the pain kicked in.


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

They had been searching for Thorne and Scarlet for days, but to no avail. Cress was hysterical. She couldn't go anywhere without thinking about Thorne, so she limped around, choking on tears. Wolf simply refused to come out of his room. He didn't eat or drink and at night, whenever Kyra, Miko and Cinder walked past his door, they could hear sobbing and gentle whimpering in the room. Elliot's eyes had all the life taken out of them. Red and Michel stayed in their rooms as well, only occasionally coming out for meals. But, in the end, they didn't come out either.

Kyra scanned over the news on her portscreen, her copper eyes dazed and unfocused from so much reading. Conspiracy theories were flying everywhere over the media. Some were saying how Scarlet, being married to an unstable Lunar wolf soldier, had ran off and killed Thorne and will eventually come back for the rest. Some said they went mad and killed themselves. Some suggested kidnapping by a secret society of Levana's supporters who somehow managed to escape persecution. And a very scandalous and popular one suggested that they were in love and ran away together from their spouses to have an affair. But of course that was all rubbish.

Kyra massaged her temples and flopped backwards onto the back of her swivel chair. The weight sent the chair moving backwards. Kyra pushed herself and the chair all the way to the other side of her vast chambers. She rolled onto the carpet, face down and groaning. She should have known that being the daughter of the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth and the former Queen of Luna would be hard. But she didn't expect that it was so... life-threatening, with everyone you know having a chance to disappear. Just like Thorne and Scarlet. But she can't do anything about it. And that was what made her so angry and tired and upset. But all that she can do is to hope that her parents and her sister aren't next.

 _And Harry_. A coy little voice whispered in the back of her head.

"Shut up!" she told it out loud and rolled onto her side, breathing in the dust motes on the white carpet. She really hoped Thorne is okay. And Scarlet, of course. But they're both pretty tough; they were part of the Nine, after all. Thorne lost three of his fingers during the Revolution and Scarlet... well, she saw her grandmother get shot in front of her eyes. Her little finger was chopped off with a freaking knife. But Thorne replaced his fingers with cybernetics. Scarlet didn't though, probably to remind herself of the Revolution and how she could never allow her children and husband to suffer the same fate.

But right now, Wolf, Red and Michel were probably worse off than her. They weren't sleeping, they were starving themselves and refusing to drink and go out of their rooms.

There was a knock on her door. Kyra looked up. "Who is it?" she croaked.

"It's me." Cinder said from outside of the door. "And Miko and Dad."

Kyra quickly wiped her eyes and pulled herself into an upright position. "Yeah. You guys can come in."

Cinder cautiously opened the door, her brown eyes darting about. Finally, she caught sight of Kyra sitting on the floor. Cinder rushed over and pulled Kyra in a hug. Kai and Miko lingered rather awkwardly by the door, but came in and sat themselves down on the carpet next to Kyra. Kai Jr was nowhere to be seen; he was probably still asleep. It was four in the morning, after all.

Kyra clutched tightly onto Cinder, muffling her sobs in Cinder's hair. But her mother didn't seem to care much, she actually looked happy that her hair was getting ruined.

"Hey, Kyra, it's alright." Cinder said and put a hand on Kyra's shoulder, nudging her away gently. Her mother was never one for hugs. Cinder looked her in the eye and gave her a little shake. "I know how much you're worried about your friends and their parents, but they'll be alright."

Kyra rolled her eyes, feeling heat rushing into her cheeks. "No, they aren't."

Kai wanted to interrupt. "Kyra, calm down-"

"No." Kyra cut cleanly across her father's voice. "I can't. I've been reading all those rubbish news reports for days, Dad, and I'm sure that you and Mom are as well. But it isn't alright. People who think that they are oh-so-accurate are ruining Thorne and Scarlet's reputation by saying these things that definitely aren't real. I know you guys are trying to stop them, but they're still there, those reports permanently in the databases."

Miko tried to calm her sister down. "Kyra, stop it!" Miko knew that her sister was having a panic attack and that whenever one of them do, it doesn't end well and usually ends up with all of them upset and shouting at each other. "You're panicking."

"I don't care if I'm panicking!" Kyra screamed and tore at her hair. She pulled herself abruptly to her feet. "It's happening and I can't... I just can't." Even though Kyra knew it was wrong, she stomped into her bathroom and slammed the door. One swipe of her fingers over the keypad and it was locked. She could hear her mother and father shouting outside, banging on the door to tell her to open up. She could hear her younger twin sobbing outside. Rushed sounds of high-heels ran into her bedroom outside. Iko, now trying to coax her out, was knocking on the door.

Kyra shook her head slowly, backing away until her legs hit the edge of the bathtub. She climbed in and curled into a ball, closing her eyes. A blast of cold air suddenly rushed around her and her eyes flew open. She was in the vents.

What in the stars?

She was blasted around the corner and she fumbled for the sharp edge, wincing as the metal cut into her palms. She grabbed on, her arms bordering dislocation as the air raged on around her. And after an eternity, the cold air stopped and she could hear the echoing of something heavy flopping into the vents from far far away. Her heart seized in her chest and she scrambled to her knees, scraping them in the process, but she didn't care. She just wanted the hell out of here.

After twenty minutes of frantic crawling, scraped legs and cut palms, she found the opening to her bathroom and slipped out into her bathtub. She landed with a loud resonating bang. She saw the grate lid and slammed it back on the vent. With a swipe of her fingers, she was out and into her room. Five minutes later, she ended up in the weaponry safe. She scanned her irises, sprinted in and grabbed the largest pistol in the room.

When she arrived back in her room, the grate lid was still unopened. Kyra, having never held a pistol before, aimed it awkwardly at the grate lid, ready to shoot. She hoped the pistol was loaded. Minutes later, a loud scraping noise was heard. Kyra fumbled for her portscreen to recording mode. Soon after, a large robot with one camera for an eye stopped at the grate. Kyra stared. It stared right back. And with a push of one long metal arm, it shoved the grate open. Kyra screamed and fired.

She missed. The robot came charging towards her and she fired some more. After firing several shots, the robot was in a hole-riddled heap on the floor. Kyra's breathing came out loud and guttural. She sent a quick comm to Palace Security and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her portscreen clattered onto the floor as her arms went limp and she collapsed.


End file.
